Maybe it was just that it was a little simpler for guys my age and older. What I recall was that in the 60s there was a very distinct cut off based on style…… the modified for speed Pre-war (WWII for the youngsters and although the war ended in1945, the prewar body styles were carried over until new tooling came along for the 48-9 Model year ) cars were Hot Rods, the cars that emphasized major body changes over speed were customs (think Barris) and then there were the Low riders and what eventually became know as street machines (later sub divided into street machines and muscle cars).

To the people who were involved in the car thing the distinctions were definitely there and readily apparent but to the non-car people we were all “those gosh darn hotrodders” and that was OK with us. It seems like by the late 80’s and beyond every category ended up being divided and subdivided to the point where it become very specific as to what category a car “should” fit in….Pro street, Pro touring, Hot Rod, Street rod Custom, mild custom, and on and on.

I guess what it looks like to me is that almost everyone who modifies there car to their own taste is a Hot Rodder, but not every car that is modified is a Hot Rod.